Vacaville Bank Robbery Suspect May Be Linked To SoCal Cop Shooting

VACAVILLE (CBS SF) — Vacaville police are searching for a masked man who robbed a Bank of the West at gunpoint on Monday evening, and say he may be the same person who shot and wounded a police officer in a recent bank robbery in Chino.

A man armed with an AK-style assault rifle entered the bank on Helen Power Drive and demanded money around 4:50 p.m., Sgt. Jeff King said. He took cash and fled.

He is described as white, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing roughly 150 pounds. He was wearing a black ski mask and a green-colored tactical vest with the word “SHERIFF” in block letters on the back, King said.

Several customers and employees were in the bank at the time of the robbery but no one was injured.

Detectives are investigating whether the robbery is related to similar robberies in Sacramento and Chino, King said.

In the Chino robbery, which occurred at a California Bank and Trust around 11 a.m. on Feb. 29, the robber shot a responding police officer with an assault rifle.

The officer drove himself to a hospital and was listed in stable condition.

The description of the Chino suspect differs slightly from that of the Vacaville suspect. The Chino suspect is described as a white man 35 to 40 years old, between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 200-250 pounds, Chino police said.

He was wearing a dark blue bulletproof vest and fled the bank in a four-door, charcoal gray Nissan Maxima with tinted windows and chrome wheels.

King said the robber is extremely dangerous, and anyone with information on him is urged to call Vacaville police at (707) 449-5200 or detective Jeff Datzman at (707) 449-4741.

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